Senior Academic Promotions 2024 - School of Dental Science/Dublin Dental University Hospital

Main changes to Policy and Process from Previous Call

Main changes to the existing Senior Academic Promotions Policy

While the Senior Academic Promotions Review Project will continue over the coming years, Board (28/02/2024) has approved a promotion round in 2024 (with an implementation date of 1 October 2024 without retrospection). This approval includes some changes to the existing Senior Academic Promotions Policy (DDUH) based on outputs from the Senior Academic Promotions Review Phase 1.

Applicants should familiarise themselves with the changes to the existing SAP Policy and Process for the Call in 2024 before submitting an application for promotion.

Please see below the main changes to the Policy and Process:

• That Professor Of candidates who pass the threshold score will be invited to interview.
• That the practice of collecting two external referee reports for Professor Of (Personal Chair), Professor In and Associate Professor candidates will be ceased.
• That the Faculty HR Partner, Secretary to the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee along with the members of the promotions committee will compile the written feedback on all unsuccessful candidates based on the minutes of the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee.
• That feedback meetings will normally be offered within eight working weeks from the date on which the letter of notification was sent to staff informing them of the outcome of their application and prior to the deadline for submitting an appeal.
• That the deadline for lodging an appeal will increase from "four" working weeks to "eight" working weeks.
• That unsuccessful candidates seeking to appeal should normally attend a feedback meeting prior to submitting an appeal.
• That Procedure 57, SAP Policy does not apply to (i) Clinical Staff who wish to apply for an honorary clinical academic title, (ii) Academic and Academic Consultant Staff employed by Dublin Dental University Hospital who hold a DDUH contractual arrangement.

Main changes to External Referee Selection Process

There is no longer a requirement for external referees in the application process for promotion to Associate Professor, Professor In, Senior Lecturer/Consultant,  Associate Professor/Consultant, Professor Of (Personal Chair) and Prof Of (Personal Chair/Consultant (School of Dental Science / DDUH).

Types of Promotion Application

There is one online application process for all categories of applications.  Within the online form you must select the promotion grade and the Faculty that applies to your application. If you wish to use have an offline version of the application form please reach out to senpromo@tcd.ie .

An academic member of staff with an appointment in more than one Faculty must determine in the promotions round in 2024 which Faculty they wish to have their application reviewed. For example, an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences may decide to submit their application to either Faculty.

Applications for the call in 2024 are divided into six promotional grades under 2 groups: Academic Staff Contract types and Academic Consultant Staff Contract types:

Academic Staff Contract Type

• Professor Of (Personal Chair)
• Professor In
• Associate Professor

Academic Consultant Staff Contract Type

• Professor/Consultant
• Associate Professor/Consultant
• Senior Lecturer/Consultant

The grade of Professor Of (Personal Chair) corresponds to the Professor salary scale, Professor In corresponds to the Associate Professor salary scale and Associate Professor corresponds to the Senior Lecturer salary scale. Staff who hold a Dublin Dental University Hospital (DDUH) contractual arrangement are eligible to apply through this SAPC process. The Academic Consultant grades are those set out in the HSE Consolidated Pay Scales, and only apply to holders of an Academic Consultant contract. Academic consultants in the DDUH appointed prior to 2012 are on a four grade scale; Professor/Consultant, Associate Professor/Consultant, Senior Lecturer/Consultant and Lecturer/Consultant.

This process does not apply to Clinical Staff who wish to apply for an honorary clinical academic title. Staff holding a permanent (non-academic) hospital consultant post should refer to the Trinity 'Review Procedures for Clinical Staff for Promotion to Clinical Professor, Clinical Associate Professor and Clinical Senior Lecturer Grades'.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible to be considered for promotion to as described under Section 2 above, staff must have passed probation prior to submitting an application and have had their appointment ratified by the DDUH Board. 
• Candidates for promotion would normally be at the top of the salary scale for their grade and would apply for the next higher academic grade.
• Each application shall be judged on its own merits, regardless of the outcome of any application in previous rounds.

For more information regarding eligibility please see Section 4. Eligibility, Senior Academic and Academic Consultant Promotions Procedure (DDUH).

Information Workshops on the Senior Academic Promotion Process

We are holding Information Workshops for all applicants that are intending to apply to the Senior Academic Promotions Call in 2024. Candidates are strongly encouraged to attend a Workshop prior to submitting an application. If you are unable to attend the session specific to your faculty, you should attend one of the other faculty workshops.

If you are unable to attend one of the faculty workshops, please reach out to senpromo@tcd.ie and we will do our best to accommodate you in a general workshop.

• dates and times TBC

These online events will be hosted by the Faculty Dean and Fidelma Haffey, Human Resources.

The purpose of the workshop(s) is to provide information about recent changes to the Senior Academic Promotions Process for the call in 2024 and to get perspectives from previous applicants. These are separate workshops to the IT Clinics.

The agenda for the Faculty information workshop

Part 1 - Overview and updates on the Senior Academic Promotions process. (50 mins)

• Introduction by Faculty Dean (5 mins)
• Overview and Updates on the Senior Academic Promotions by Fidelma Haffey, Head of Talent, Human Resources (20 mins)
• Speaker - Perspectives from the point of view of a previous reviewer (10 mins)
• Q & A – 15 mins

Part 2 - Experiences of the process from an applicant's viewpoint (45 mins)

• Panel of Speakers - Experience of a successful candidate at Associate Professor, Professor In etc. level – 30 mins
• Q&A – 15 mins - questions drawn from the chat.

For further information about the Workshops please email senpromo@tcd.ie

The Online Application Process

There are 3 steps in the online application process:

• Step 1, the applicant completes their user profile on the MyRSS by using the Promotions CV Wizard to fill out the Senior Academic Promotions Application Form. The applicant outputs their Promotions CV document to Word and completes Section 4.3 on Teaching and Section 4.5 on Supervision as well as reviewing the overall content of the application document.

If you wish to access an offline version of the application form please reach out to senpromo@tcd.ie

• Step 2, the applicant downloads the Head of School Report Form from the Promotions Webpage or within the e-recruitment system.

Link to the Head of School Report Form

• Step 3, the applicant uploads to e-recruitment their completed promotion application and Head of Discipline/Head of School report.

Step 1 – Using the MyRSS Promotions Wizard

My RSS User Guide (pdf 2.3 mb)

Go to the MyRSS and login.

• The Promotions Wizard is accessible to all active RSS users here: https://rss.tcd.ie and then select “MyApplication”
• First decide which type of promotion you would like to apply for and click save. There are 4 options: Clinical Academic Promotions, Senior Academic Promotions, Junior Academic Progressions and Online Review Form. You need to Select Senior Academic Promotions for this call.
• Then complete each section of the Promotions Wizard by clicking next until you arrive at the final section - Output MyRSS Promotions CV.
• Save the MyRSS Promotion CV file to your desktop or any other suitable location on your computer for review and completion. When you output the CV to Word you should then review the overall content of the application document, save it as a PDF.
• For queries about the MyRSS Promotions Wizard or the RSS please email RSSadmin@tcd.ie

Step 2 – Download the Head of School Report

The next step is to download the Head of School Report Form that is available here or within the e-recruitment system and ask your Head of Discipline/Head of School to complete. Committee members cannot sign this form.

In order to ensure that no Committee member signs your Head of School Report Form, you should check the list of Committee Members. Please discuss with the Committee member prior to submitting your application. If a Head of School is on the Committee, a Pro-Head of School will be appointed by the Dean to sign the form. If you believe that a member of staff other than your Head of School may be a more appropriate person to write commentary, please consult with the Secretary to the Senior Academic Promotions Committee senpromo@tcd.ie.

If a change of signature is required, please notify us at senpromo@tcd.ie.

Link to the Head of School Report Form

Step 3 – Use e-recruitment

E-Recruitment User Guide (pdf 1.8 mb)

The final part of the process for applying is via the e-recruitment system at https://jobs.tcd.ie.

The Senior Academic Promotions Call will open on 20 May 2024. We recommend early application to avoid system difficulties near the closing date. We advise you register for e-recruitment in advance of the call, in case there are any difficulties accessing the platform.

Please ensure that all elements are completed before uploading and submitting, as once you have submitted your application cannot be changed in any way. Also please note the closing dates.

Please note that you must submit and receive a receipt email (please retain this for your records) to confirm that your application has been included in the promotion call.  The confirmation email may arrive up to 15 minutes after submission. It may also land in your Spam, so please check your spam folder if you do not receive this confirmation email to your main inbox within 15 minutes. If you do not receive a confirmation email from e-Recruitment this means that your application has not been submitted. Please ensure that you have followed all the steps in the e-Recruitment process and if you require assistance with this stage of the process, please email senpromo@tcd.ie.

User Clinics on the Online Application Process

User Clinics on the Senior Academic Promotions Application Process will be held on:

• dates and times TBC

To book yourself in for one of these tutorials please email us at senior.promotions@tcd.ie.

Stages of the process

Stage 1 - Call for applications

• Call for applications opens - Promotion Advertisement Date – Promotion Round will open 20 May 2024 (please note individual closing dates for promotions)
• Use the Online Process to create your application.
• Submit your Application and Head of School Report Form to https://jobs.tcd.ie
  
• Applicants submit applications – NB - Closing Dates – No late applications accepted:
  
  • Associate Professor – 12 noon, 5 September 2024
  • Professor In – 12 noon, 5 September 2024
  • Professor Of (Personal Chairs) – 12 noon, 5 September 2024
  • Senior Lecturer/Consultant – 12 noon, 5 September 2024
  • Associate Professor/Consultant – 12 noon, 5 September 2024
  • Professor/Consultant - 12 noon, 5 September 2024
• User Tutorials on the online application process will be held on the following dates.
  • dates and times TBC

  To book yourself in for one of these tutorials, please email us at senpromo@tcd.ie.

Stage 2 – For Associate Professor, Professor In, Senior Lecturer/Consultant or Associate Professor/Consultant Candidates
- Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee Stage

Review of Applications for Associate Professor, Professor In, Senior Lecturer/Consultant, and Associate Professor/Consultant.

• Following receipt of applications, the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee will review applicants:
  Faculty of Health Sciences Senior Academic Promotions Committee; Shortlisting
• All candidates and their Heads of Schools will be notified on completion of the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee Stage.
• Feedback can be requested by unsuccessful candidates. The Faculty Dean, one member of the Committee and the Faculty HR Partner shall meet with unsuccessful candidates requesting feedback, having provided written feedback as outlined in advance of that meeting. (For more information on feedback please see the Policy, section 9. Feedback, Senior Academic and Academic Consultant Promotions Procedure (DDUH)

Stage 2 – For Professor Of (Personal Chair) or Professor/Consultant
- Senior Academic Promotions Committee Review

Review of Applications for Professor Of (Personal Chair), and Professor/Consultant.

• Following receipt of applications, the Senior Academic Promotions Committee review Professor Of (Personal Chair) candidates
• All candidates and their Heads of Schools will be notified on completion of the Senior Academic Promotions Committee stage.
• Feedback can be requested by unsuccessful candidates. The Chair (or their nominee), one member of the Committee and the Director of HR (or nominee) shall meet with unsuccessful candidates requesting feedback, having provided written feedback as outlined in advance of that meeting. (For more information on feedback please see the Policy, section 9. Feedback, Senior Academic and Academic Consultant Promotions Procedure (DDUH) .)

Stage 3 – Approval

Successful candidates, following Senior Academic Promotions Committee review will be recommended for promotion to the University Council and Board for approval.

Stage 4 – Implementation

Promotions will be made under the SAP Call in 2024, and take effect from 1 October 2024 (with no retrospection), subject to approval by the Board of DDUH and the University Council and Board.

Indicative Timelines

Indicative Timeline for Senior Academic Promotions 2024

HR Open Call for Promotion Applications	20 May 2024
Education / Information sessions for Community	March to August 2024
Deadline for Submission of applications by candidates	5 September 2024
Application Checks Complete	9 September 2024
Issue Packs to FSAPC and SAPC	13 September 2024
Meetings of the FSAPC and SAPC to consider applications and make recommendations	October 2024
Candidates informed of the decision of the FSAPC and SAPC	week of 2-7 December 2024
Feedback meetings scheduled	9 December 2024 - January 2025
Christmas vacation	23 December 2024 to 2 January 2025
Board of DDUH to approve recommendations for promotion	TBC December 2024 / January 2025
Council to approve and Board to note recommendations for promotion	TBC January 2025
Implementation of award on Payroll	TBC March 2025

 

Committee Membership

Senior Academic Promotions Committee - quorum of 7 (excluding Human Resources)

	Membership of the Senior Academic Promotions Committee	Scoring Responsibility	Membership Term
1	Chair: Provost (or nominee)	No	Ex Officio
2	Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer	Yes	Ex Officio
3-5	Faculty Deans x 3	Yes	Ex Officio
6-8	Professors Of x 3 (one per Faculty)	Yes	3 years
9-11	External members x 3* - distinguished academics corresponding to Faculty Areas	Yes	3 years
12	Member nominated by IFUT/ASA at Professor Of or In grade x 1	Yes	3 years
13	Secretary: Director of Human Resources (or nominee)	No	In attendance

* Drawn from a panel of external members. The same three external members will be used for a promotion round.

Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committees - quorum of 7 (excluding Human Resources)

	Membership of the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee	Scoring Responsibility	Membership Term
1	Chair: Vice Provost, Chief Academic Officer	No	Ex Officio
2	Faculty Dean	Yes	Ex Officio
3-8 (9)	Professors in the Faculty (Professor Of/In) reflecting a range of disciplinary interests x 5*	Yes	3 years
9 (10)	Member nominated by IFUT/ASA	Yes	3 years
10-12 (11-13)	External members x 3** - distinguished academics corresponding to Faculty Areas	Yes	3 years
13 (14)	Secretary: Director of Human Resources (or nominee)	No	In attendance
14 (15)	In attendance: Faculty HR Partner	No	In attendance

* Ideally 5, can be expanded to a maximum of 6.

** Drawn from a panel of external members. The same three external members will be used for a promotion round.

Senior Academic Promotions – Committee Membership, Call in 2024

The membership of the Senior Academic Promotions Committee and the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committees is detailed below.

Members, other than those ex officio, serve a three-year term from the date of first appointment.

Senior Academic Promotions Committee

Provost – Linda Doyle - ex officio
Vice Provost/Chief Academic Officer – Professor Orla Sheils - ex officio
Dead of FAHSS - Professor Gail McElroy - ex officio
Dean of FSTEM - Professor Sylvia Draper - ex officio
Dean of FHS - Professor Brian O’Connell - ex officio
Professor Of (one per Faculty) - Professor Darryl Jones, Faculty of AHSS
Professor Of (one per Faculty – Professor Maeve Lowery, Faculty of HS
Professor Of (one per Faculty - Professor Stefano Sanvito, Faculty of STEM
Professor Christine Morris, School of Histories & Humanities (IFUT/ASA Staff Rep)
Professor Michael Bruter, Professor of Political Science and European Politics, London School of Economics (External, FAHSS)
Professor Keith Gull, Professor of Molecular microbiology, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford (External, FSTEM)
Professor Angus Walls, University of Edinburgh (External, FHS)

Gender balance - 6 Female: 6 Male - 50%F: 50%M

Faculty of Health Sciences Senior Academic Promotions Committee

Vice Provost/Chief Academic Officer – Professor Orla Sheils - ex officio
Dean of FHS - Professor Brian O’Connell - ex officio
Professor Brendan Kelly – Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine
Professor Mark Cunningham – Discipline of Physiology, School of Medicine
Professor Juliette Hussey – Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine
Professor Anne-Marie Healy – School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Science
Professor Anne-Marie Brady – School of Nursing & Midwifery
Professor Derek Sullivan – School of Dental Science (IFUT/ASA Staff Rep)
Professor Hugh McKenna, School of Nursing, Ulster University (External)
Professor Hannah Batchelor, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde (External)
Professor Suzanne Turner, Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge (External)

Gender balance - 6 Female: 5 Male - 55%F: 45%M

GDPR Statement for Senior Academic Promotions

For the purposes of the Senior Academic Promotions Call you will be required to complete an application form that includes a Head of School Report submitted by the candidate to Human Resources via e-Recruitment.

This information will be used to evaluate you for promotion.

To comply with GDPR we seek your consent to process your application. On filling in the online e-recruitment form you will be requested during the questionnaire section to give your consent by ticking yes. If you do not tick yes, then you will be unable to submit an application.

For Associate Professor, Professor In, Senior Lecturer/Consultant and Associate Professor/Consultant, the content of your application and Head of School Report will be shared with members of the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee.

For Professor Of (Personal Chairs) and Professor/Consultant, the content of your application and Head of School Report will be shared with the Senior Academic Promotions Committee.

Please note that should you wish to withdraw your consent for either of the above you can do so by emailing us at senpromo@tcd.ie, however this will render your application void.

Personal Circumstances

Time Limit and Completed Forms

The Personal Circumstances Form can be downloaded here. Please return the completed form by e-mail to:  senpromo@tcd.ie prior to the closing date of application for promotion.
By submitting your application electronically, you are declaring that the information you are providing is factually correct.

Please note that confirmation of receipt of your Personal Circumstances Form from the relevant Committee Secretary shall be sent to the Trinity e-mail address you entered on this form.

If you have concerns about disclosing details of your personal circumstances because of its sensitive nature, please email to senior.promotions@tcd.ie for assistance.

What is the Personal Circumstances form?

Personal Circumstances are considerations which the relevant Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committees take into account at time of promotion. The process assesses an applicant's merit relative to their opportunity to accrue that merit.

A range of personal circumstances may be considered that have affected, interrupted or delayed the career path, performance or output of a staff member during their employment with the University, which the staff member wishes the Faculty Review Committee and the Senior Academic Promotions Committee to take into account.

This form must be used by all candidates who wish their Personal Circumstances to be taken into account at the time of a promotion application.

The Personal Circumstances may include but are not limited to protective leave (for example, maternity, adoptive, parental, paternity, carers' leave or disability); long-term caring responsibilities; illness; inability to travel abroad or to undertake field work; etc. They may be ongoing circumstances or situations of a fixed duration; the candidate is invited to indicate the time period involved.

Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee and Senior Academic Promotions Committee

Accommodation for Personal Circumstances may be allocated to a candidate where a prima facie case for Personal Circumstances is accepted by the Chair and the Secretary to the Committee prior to the meeting of the Committee. It shall then be incumbent upon the Chair of the Committee to ensure that the Committee are aware that Personal Circumstances and how they might be appropriately taken into account / their probable impact on the candidate's application for promotion.

Information storage

The information provided shall be kept in accordance with Trinity's Data Protection Policy and Privacy Statement.

The information provided shall only be considered for the promotion review indicated at this time and for no other purpose. A new application for consideration of Personal Circumstances must be made for each new promotion review to be considered.

Information provided by a candidate on their Personal Circumstances to the Faculty Senior Academic Promotions Committee and the Senior Academic Promotion Committee is strictly confidential and shall be disclosed only to the Committee Secretary and the Chair of the relevant Committee, as required. The information shall not be shared with any third party.

The Chair shall indicate to the Committee the probable impact of the Personal Circumstances on the candidate’s application for promotion without disclosing their specific nature.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions section for FAQs about Senior Academic Promotions - School of Dental Science.

Links to Resources for Senior Academic Promotions Process

Web Pages and Documents	User Guides
Senior Academic and Academic Consultants Promotions Procedure (DDUH)
Guidance Document on Criteria
Head of School Report
RSS	MyRSS User Guide
e-recruitment	E-Recruitment User Guide
Frequently Asked Questions